Jigsaw - youngballymun is an integrated youth wellbeing initiative spanning youth work, health and wellbeing, community development, education and employment. The service is developed in partnership with Headstrong, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health and is part of ‘Jigsaw’, a national response to youth wellbeing developed by Headstrong
For more information on Jigsaw - youngballymun, please contact:
Lorna Powell, Programme Coordinator
Phone: 01 866 7622
Email: lorna@youngballymun.org

Jigsaw-youngballymun has 3 strands:

1. Universal services

In developing Jigsaw - youngballymun it was recognized that there was a unique opportunity to embrace a universal approach to the promotion of well-being among young people in Ballymun. This strand concentrates on expanding youth-friendly facilities in Ballymun and the capacity of young people to support each other.  The work includes the resourcing of a youth café, a peer mentoring programme and training and capacity building opportunities for young people, their parents, members of the community and those working with young people.  Across the whole Jigsaw - youngballymun service we will actively engage with, listen to, and empower the voices of young people within the community. The key to this is the Jigsaw youngballymun Youth Advisory Panel.

• Jigsaw youngballymun Youth Advisory Panel

The axis arts team (DJ Moschops & Emma Connors) have been working with two groups of young people aged between 14 and 21 over a ten week period. The project has involved the use of digital media, podcasting and radio to explore youth issues. The 10 week project has come to an end and the young people are exploring over three workshops how they wish the youth advisory panel to progress. Those involved will have the opportunity stay on as members of the Jigsaw youngballymun Youth Advisory Panel and others can also stay involved in shorter term projects throughout the year. We will keep you posted as to how this progresses! 

• Jigsaw-youngballymun Lunchtime Lecture Series

Following the success of the 2009 programme the lunchtime lecture series continues into 2010. The lecture series has been developed to be a resource for community practitioners, to raise awareness of mental health topics, to promote both local and regional services for young people, highlight referral pathways and to give practitioners recommendations when working with young people. The programme runs every second Wednesday in the axis Centre from 12.30 – 1.00 and is open to practitioners in the Ballymun area, our Spring schedule included:

• February 3rd “Eating Disorders and Adolescence”– Bodywhys
• February 17th “Crisis Pregnancy” – The Crisis Pregnancy Agency
• March 3rd “Bereavement and Young People” - Barnardos Bereavement Counselling for Children
• March 24th  “Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Young People” BeLonG To
• 21st April ‘10 School Attendance – The National Education Welfare Board
• 5^th May ’10 “Mater Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS): Ballymun Team”
• 19^th May ’10 “Non Violent Communication with Young People” Sarah Bird

2. Wraparound Facilitators

Wraparound establishes an integrated support system for young people built on their individual strengths and the strengths of their family and community. Adults from the statutory, community, and voluntary sectors who work with Ballymun youth are trained to assist young people to manage social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. These adults – known as “Jigsaw Wraparound Facilitators” (WAFs) – have ongoing access to a clinical and coordination support service dedicated to supporting Wraparound in Ballymun, and work with young people and families to help identify strengths, goals, and resources associated with improved outcomes. 

Agencies have been working hard to implement the programme in their own unique settings for example BRYR are applying the model to their Outfit Programme while in Trinity Comprehensive School WAF has been integrated into the schools Care Team Structure. As part of the ongoing support to those already training in Wraparound three refresher workshops took place during February and March this year. The three sessions covered “Engagement and Explaining Wraparound”, “Exploring Concerns and Eliciting Strengths” and “Engaging a Team and Goal Setting”. 2010 will see two more rounds of Jigsaw Wraparound Facilitator Training.

3. Crisis response

The community crisis response service aims to provide a resource for young people in Ballymun who are in significant distress. Research into internationally proven models of community-based crisis response services and an assessment of local need provide the foundation for this service design. In addition, the service design will be informed by local experts and service providers such as educators, local youth services, representatives of the juvenile justice system, Headstrong, the HSE, Mater child and adolescent mental health services, and the greater Dublin area Out-of-Hours Social Work service. Currently, the crisis response service is in the final stages of the service design phase.